Impalement-trap.



O. J. MERRITT. IMPALEMENT TRAP. APPLIOATION FILED JAH.12, 1909.

Patented June 29, 1909.

Z3 rwau to:

UNITED STATE PATENT G FFTQEQ OTIS .T. MERRITT, OF VALLEY, IDAHO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO ANDREW A. MERRITT, OF VALLEY, IDAHO, AND ONE-THIRD TO EDWIN DOUST, OF SANDPOINT, IDAHO.

IMPALEMENT-TRAP.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OTIs J. MERRITT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Valley, in the county of Bonner and State of Idaho, have invented a new and .useful Impalement-Trap, of which the following is a specification.

The objects of the invention are, generally, the provision, in a merchantable form, of a device of the above mentioned class which shall be inexpensive to manufacture, facile in operation, and devoid of complicated parts; specifically, the provision of a supporting ele ment and lever of novel and improved form, of novel means for limiting the movement of the lever upon the supporting element, of a guide and a knife of novel and improved construction; other and further objects being made manifest hereinafter as the description of the invention progresses.

The invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts, hereinafter described, delineated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the a pended claims, it being understood that ivers changes in the form, proportions, size, and minor details of the structure may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to denote corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 shows my invention in perspective; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of one of the terminals of the lever showing the knife mounted thereon, one of the arms of the said lever being removed; Fig. 3 is a top plan of one of the terminals of the lever, the knife being removed and Fig. 4 is a detail perspective of the knife.

In carrying out my invention, I provide, primarily, a supporting member comprising the base 1 and the standard 2. The base 1 in its preferred form is fashioned from a narrow strip of metal having one of its terminals upbent as denoted by the numeral 3. The standard 2 which rises from the base 1 adjacent one end thereof is preferably of L- sha e, the foot of the member being attached to t e base 1 in the present instance by rivets 5. The u per terminal of the standard 2 carries the ever 4, the said lever 4. being piv- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 12, 1909.

Patented June 29, 1909.

Serial No. 471,921.

otally connected with the standard by the transversely disposed element 12.

The terminal of the base 1 which is most remote from the standard 2 is provided with apertures 8 designed to receive the means whereby the device is held in place in the earth or upon a support. The means for re taining the device in place may take the form of an ordinary nail, screw, or rivet. In their preferred form, however, these attaching means comprise a U-shaped staple 9 adapted to register in the apertures 8. The lower terminals of the staple are outwardly beveled upon their adjacent faces, as denoted by the numeral 22. 'lransversely mounted upon the base 1 and disposed intermediate the ends thereof, is a guide 7 preferably U-shaped and united to the base by rivets 14, the terminals of the said guide member being upwardly disposed.

The lever 4 is preferably fashioned from a single strip of metal having its terminals in bent and disposed parallel to itself, as denoted by the numeral 10 to form the head of the T-shaped lover. The terminals are again flexed at right angles to the head to form resilient arms 11, these arms constituting the shank of the lever and being designed to re tain between them the knife (3. The adjacent faces of the arms 11 near their ends are channeled, as denoted by the numeral 13, and between this channeled portion and the extremities of the arms are located apertures adapted to receive a threaded member 15, whereby the arms may be firmly clamped upon the knife.

The knife comprises a shank 16 arranged to register in the channel 13 of the arms' From this shank projects a shoulder 17 adapted to rest upon the member 15, as shown in Fig. 2. The blade proper 18 is disposed substantially at right angles to the shank 16 and is made of gradually diminishing thickness from its point of union with the shank to its extreme tip. The blade terminates in an acuminate upbent portion 19 and the under edge 20 of the blade convexes rearward to meet the shoulder 17, the said under edge 20 of the blade and the forward edge 21 of the shoulder being sharpened.

The improved device forming the subject matter of this application for Letters Patent in the burrow of an animal.

is designed to be introduced into the ground In this position it is obvious that the parts are liable to rust and in order that the lever 4 may have free movement upon the standard 2, I prefer to fashion the said standard 2 from brass or similar material, in order that it may not become rigidly rusted to the lever.

So far as I am advised as to the state o'f the art, it has been the common practice heretofore to provide the end of the lever with a flat plate.

This practice is fraught with many inconveniences. In the first place, this plate which was designed to receive the feet of the animal in order that the lever might be tilted, provided a firm foothold for the victim and it lay within his power, after the process of impalemen-t had begun, to pushhimself backward, freeing himself from the action of the knife. Furthermore, this flat plate rising from the bottom of the burrow served to excite the suspicion of the animal, the animals not infrequently avoiding the device entirely and digging a new eXit from their burrow.

The head of the T-shaped lever of my invention formed by the inbending of the terminals, as shown at 10, has been found to be a practical and efficient substitute for the flat foot plate hereinbefore mentioned and described. This head, as will be seen by reference to Fig. 1, is not designed to form a foothold for the animal nor intended to be engaged by its feet at all. As the animal moves upon the lever, the transverse head of the lever will ordinarily engage the forelegs of the animal to the rear of the foot joint, and since the lever is upheld by the bent terminal 3 of the base, it will be seen that the animal has an insecure foothold and that it can free itself from the device only by protracted and laborious effort.

In fashioning the lever 4 I. cause the transverse head to have substantially the same cross sectional area as the shank, the entire lever presented in the burrow having the appearance of a root or twig, a construction designed to allay the suspicions of the animals.

The length of the lever 4 is such that the point of the knife will be disposed in close relation to the transverse U-shaped guide mem ber 7, and it will be seen that by means of this guide member 7, the animal will be held securely in a position in which it will receive the upward thrust of the knife when the lever has been operated by the thrust of the forelegs, as hereinbefore described.

The shape of the knife 6 is of importance. The upstanding pointed terminal 19 will readily enter the flesh, the curved edge 20 of the blade deflecting the terminal 19 into the vitals of the animal. It will be seen that by sharpening the forward edge 21 of the shoulder, the movement of the knife will not be impeded by the contact between the shoulder resilient arms 11 and the flesh, the sharpened edge 21 moving rearward and ripping open the wall of the belly. Since the portion 19 is upbent, it is obvious that the knife will begin to cut as soon as it contacts with the flesh, forward movement upon the part of the animal being unnecessary to make the device operative. The position and shape of the knife is such that should the device fail to disembowel and kill the animal, the procreative organs would still be injured to such an extent as to make reproduction impossible.

The resilient arms 11 and the threaded member 15 together with the peculiar shape of the blade, furnish a means whereby the said blade may be rigidly attached to the lever 4. The blade, however, may readily be removed from the lever for sharpening and cleaning. The screw 15 serves to draw the together and to maintain their grip upon the shank of the blade.

When my invention is fastened in place by the use of the staple '9, it will be seen that after the said staple has been introduced through the apertures 8 in the base 1, the beveled faces 22 will engage the earth causing the arms of the staple to be separated, the distance between the terminals of the arms increasing as the staple penetrates the earth, the forked position secured by the arms tending to make the withdrawal of the staple difficult.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to protect by Letters Patent is 1. In a device of the class described, a supporting member; an upstanding guide member transversely mounted upon the supporting member; a lever pivoted intermediate its ends to the supporting member; and a knife carried by the end of the lever and disposed in close relation to the guide member.

2'. In a device of the class described, a base; a standard rising from the base; a lever pivoted intermediate of its ends to the standard; and a knife carried by one end of the lever, the base having an upbent termi nal arranged to limit the movement of the lever.

3. In a device of the class described, a supporting member, a lever pivoted to the supporting member and comprising a pair of resilient arms having their adjacent faces transversely channeled near their terminals, a knife mounted between the arms and hav ing a shank to register in the transverse channel of the arms and being provided with an outstanding shoulder, and clamping means transversely mounted in the arms and arranged to receive the shoulder of the knife.

4. In a device of the class described, a supporting member; a lever pivoted to the supporting member; a knife carried by the lever and comprising a lever-engaging shank provided with a lever-engaging shoulder, the

knife having a blade proper disposed substantially at right angles to the shank and having a thinned acunlinated upbent terminal, the lower edge of the blade being curved to meet the shoulder, the said lower edge of the blade and the forward edge of the shoulder being sharpened.

OTIS J. MERRITT. \Vitnesses R0131. S. MOORA, JOHN K. AsHLEY, Jr. 

